The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for attaching a hairpiece to the head of a recipient who has lost a portion of his natural hair and wishes to artificially replace the lost hair.
Previously known methods for attaching haipieces have used, at least in part, the recipient's own hair as a means for securing the hairpiece. U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,792 describes a method of attaching hairpieces of the type having a base formed from open-hole netting in which separate groups of natural hair are pulled up through adjoining holes in the netting, the groups of hair are twisted together and tied into knots, and glue is applied to the knotted hair so that it holds the hairpiece in place. However, this method, and methods of this type, have not been entirely satisfactory.
In practice of the known methods, it has been cumbersome and difficult to hold, twist, and knot the hair securely, and at the same time apply the glue. It has also been difficult to knot the hair close enough to the recipient's scalp so that the hairpiece is secured without undesired slippage. When trying to make sufficiently tight knots to prevent slippage, the tension that the operator exerts on the hair frequently causes pain of discomfort to the recipient, and it has been difficult for the operator to judge when he is pulling too hard. Still a further drawback in such prior practices has been that the natural hair must be relatively long to enable it to be adequately twisted and knotted. This has prevented such attachment methods from being used when the recipient either did not have long hair or desired a shorter hair style.